Chapter 10 - Complications

Earlier in Steve's hospital room

"Steve, what happened to you? Are you alright?" Cath looks with worry at her friend.

Even in the small frame of the video-feed, Steve can see that his friend is distressed about his condition. He doesn't think he looks so bad. Yes, of course there is the bump on the left side of his head, covered with a pretty big white patch, but other than that he looks 'normal'. As normal as he can with all kinds of electrodes, lines and tubes attached to him. And the fact that he's in a hospital bed with beeping equipment behind him, is probably not a reassuring sight. "I'll be fine. Please don't worry." His voice is very low, and he wonders why he can't speak any louder.

"What happened? Are you seriously hurt?"

"No, not really. I have a concussion," and just to underline the existence of it, his head decides to turn the volume of the damn orchestra in his head up a little. Steve closes his eyes for a second and lies back.

"Steve!" Catherine can only call out to her friend. She so wishes to touch him, to comfort him but she's only able to look at him helplessly and wait for him to come around again.

"Hmm, just give me a minute." He's dizzy and nauseous and really doesn't want to throw up in front of Catherine. Thankfully, it only takes a minute for him to feel a little better. "Sorry about that."

"You don't look so good, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should call the nurse?"

"No, it's okay. I feel a little better."

"Is the concussion the only injury? And please tell me what happened." Cath looks at him intently, daring him to lie to her.

"No, my right elbow was dislocated, hurt like a bitch. My ankle is messed up and infected. My hip is bruised. But that's it."

"That's it? Steve, that's more than enough. Now tell me what happened."

"I don't know Cath. I haven't been awake that long, and I can't really remember. Danny was going to tell me, but I didn't want to miss your call. He's waiting outside right now. I remember being chained in some bunker, but I don't know how I got there. The injuries are from the cuffs on my ankle, and from falling down, when I was getting out of there. At least I think I got out of there. I'm sorry Cath. . .my head hurts. . . I don't really remember much."

"Steve, it's okay. Lie back. Your breathing is really fast, try to calm down."

He hears Cath talking, but he feels like he ran a marathon, he just can't catch his breath. Seconds later he starts coughing, which results in his headache spiking again. Steve closes his eyes and makes a valiant effort to draw in a deep breath. From afar, he can hear someone telling him to press a button. What button? It gets harder and harder to get any air into his lungs. Steve starts to panic, but he can finally hear Catherine again.

"Cath?" Steve's voice is almost non-existent by now.

"Steve, look at me. Press the button for the nurse. Steve!" Catherine Rollins' loud voice is almost frantic, when she sees her friend gasping for air. It's obvious he's not able to catch his breath, and that he's in dire distress. Cath can only watch helplessly as her friend panics even more and struggles to sit up.

After what seems like forever she can finally see Danny and some nurse helping Steve, who is almost ready to pass out from lack of oxygen. She gets totally frustrated when the tray with the computer gets pushed out of the way, and she is no longer privy to what is going on.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is pacing in front of Steve's room. He was thrown out a few minutes ago, after Dr. Heller came rushing into the room. Danny took Cath with him, well in the form of the laptop and was able to calm her down and promised her to call her back as soon as he knew something about Steve's condition.

He can still see Steve, lying in bed, unable to draw a breath. Coughing up blood. He vividly remembers the crash cart the nurse pushed next to Steve's bed. Danny can't understand why Steve was suddenly in such distress. He seemed fine when Danny went for coffee and left him talking to Catherine. When he saw him suffocating, Danny panicked and didn't know what to do. He did the only thing he could think of and grabbed his friend's hand, which seemed to ground Steve some.

Steve still couldn't breathe better but he was looking at Danny with such trust, that it totally blew his mind. His best friend was on the brink of blacking out but trusted Danny to help him.

Danny looks up at the sound of the elevator arriving, and sees his three friends emerging, chatting happily, but one look at him and they stop their conversation.

"Danny, what's wrong?" Kono is the first to ask.

"I don't know. Steve had some kind of attack, he couldn't breathe. The doctor is still with him. One minute he was fine and the next, he's coughing up blood and…"

"Hey, I'm sure he's going to be okay. How long have you been out here?" Lori looks at Danny and hopes that she's right with her prognosis.

"Ten minutes. Seems like an hour," Danny mutters, pacing in front of them. "I just don't understand. Steve woke up and he was so happy to talk to Catherine. I shouldn't have left him alone."

"Danny, it's not your fault." Chin knows that Danny is still guilt-ridden about the whole kidnapping. Something that is not Danny's fault at all, but he also knows that no words will convince him of that.

"It's the second time that I left him, and he ends up hurt."

"Danny, that is just ridiculous. None of this is your fault." Chin just shakes his head at the stubborn Detective.

"If I hadn't met with the guys from Jersey, or if I had invited Steve along, he would not have been kidnapped. He would have been with me and would have been safe."

"Danny that is the most stupid thing you've ever said. You can't dwell on 'what if'. That is just dumb. Okay, listen to me Danny. I know you feel guilty for telling Steve that you didn't want him to meet your friends. And you should, as that is not how you treat your best friend. BUT that has nothing to do with Steve getting hurt. You will have to explain your actions to Steve, he was hurt by it big time. But I'm sure you two will work it out. What you should not do is feel guilty about Steve's kidnapping, because that was not your fault. And Steve will be the last one who will hold you accountable for that." Kono is looking at Danny and hopes that he will snap out of his guilt trip sooner rather than later. "Steve needs you Danny. Stop your self-pity and face the situation."

Before Danny can reply, Dr. Heller and the two nurses come out of Steve's room.

"Dr. Heller, how is Steve? Is he all right?"

"Detective Williams, maybe we should talk in my office?" The doctor looks at the team and motions for them to follow him.

"What? Why? Please just tell us how Steve is." Danny is not willing to leave his partner's side again.

"Your partner will be fine. Now please will you follow me to my office? I like to talk to you about some things. You," he's looking at the rest of the team, "can stay with the commander. Just don't wake him. In a few minutes, he will be taken to radiology. Don't worry it's just for a routine check."

Danny is debating not going with the doctor but going to see his friend again. Since the team will be with Steve he agrees to leave. Dr. Heller's office is on the same floor and it's quite spacious.

"Please Detective, have a seat. Would you like a coffee or some soda?" Dr. Heller asks him when they reach his inner office.

"No, thank you." This is not what Danny expected, he was not prepared for him to be so 'nice'.

"Very well. Detective, I know we got off to a rocky start. But please believe me I only had Steve's best interests in mind. First let me tell you what was wrong just now. At some point during his ordeal he must have inhaled some fluids. Water, or maybe even some vomit. Normally the body is able to handle that and gets rid of it naturally. Inhaled water gets simply coughed out. But in some cases, for various reasons, that doesn't happen. What happened to Steve often happens to drowning victims. We call that 'dry drowning'. Fluid in the lungs builds up and the victims drown in their own body. That can happen up to seventy two hours after the actual incident"

"Will Steve be okay?"

"He will be fine. He only has a very mild case, and his violent coughing already got rid of most of it. We're going to take some x-rays, to confirm it, but I'm certain that with the given medication, Steve should not have another episode."

"He coughed up blood." Danny can still see the bloody mask.

"Yes, but that is nothing unusual and is harmless. Don't worry about it."

"So he will be okay?" Danny just needs to hear it one more time.

"Yes, Detective, he will be fine." Dr. Heller is smiling at the younger man, "I'd like to talk to you about something else though."

"About what?"

"I like to apologize to you and explain why I practically accused you of abusing your partner."

"Oh. I was wondering why you acted like that." Danny had been waiting for an explanation ever since he came to the hospital. But there had been more important things to worry about up until now.

"When Steve was brought into the ER, he was only semiconscious and even when awake not very lucid. We could barely get his first name out of him. At that time the ER was extremely busy with dozens of victims from a bus accident. Of course Steve received all the care he needed right away, but the administrative side of his arrival… well, let's just say was not the best. The alert for him was not at the desk in the ER and our system is still lagging behind. So he was not ID'd right away. We're sorry about that."

"I understand that, his nurse already told me." Danny has calmed down about the fact that his friend was in the hospital and they were not informed about it. In the end, no harm was done.

"Still, I'd like to apologize for it."

"Thank you, but I'm more interested in why you thought that I was the one hurting my partner." Danny is still curious about that and doesn't think it's funny at all. Contrary to his teammates, who find the whole mess just hilarious.

"Commander McGarrett was treated by our ER-pediatrician. I assure you he's very capable of treating adults, don't worry, he's a good doctor." Dr. Heller tries to hide his grin about the look Danny was sporting at the mention of the pediatrician. "The injuries Cmdr. McGarrett suffered were inconclusive. Dr. Brill assumed he suffered his injuries during a climbing accident. He was wearing light climbing shoes and his ankle looked like it was caught in a rope and he'd got hung from it. But his other injuries practically screamed abuse. Spousal abuse to be precise. His fading bruises clearly indicated long time abuse."

"That still doesn't explain why you thought I was the one hurting him."

"No it doesn't. During the time Steve was awake, he mumbled your name. But he was very scared that we might call you. He pleaded with us not to call Danno. That, and other disturbing findings led Dr. Brill to the conclusion that his boyfriend was abusing him. I'm sorry if I offended you with my conclusion that you were Steve's abusive friend. I didn't mean to. I was just looking out for my patient." Dr. Heller's apology is sincere and Danny is sure that he means it.

"As my 'female' colleagues tell me I should be flattered since apparently he's such a good catch." Danny can't help but grin at the doctor. "Wait a minute. What disturbing findings are you talking about?"

"Detective, I'm not comfortable discussing this with you." It's clear that Dr. Heller tries to avoid Danny's question.

"I'm Steve's next of kin and I have his power of attorney, you can discuss his medical issues with me."

"I know that. But this is not about his immediate care, so I'd rather not talk about it with a third party."

That was of course the wrong thing to say, Danny is a detective after all. And something like this will only make him go after the answer even more. "What kind of tests did you do?"

"The usual: X-Rays, CT-scan for his head and the normal testing in the ER."

"Dr. Heller, I need to know if my partner is sick in any way. I need to know if your findings will affect his duty."

"He is not sick and it will not affect his work," Dr. Heller assures Danny. "Detective, how well do you know Cmdr. McGarrett?"

Danny wonders where this conversation is going, "what do you mean?"

"You're good friends?"

"Yeah, we're close. What are you getting at?"

"Do you know much about his childhood?"

"No. Steve doesn't talk about his childhood very often." Danny has no idea what the doctor is trying to say, without actually saying anything.

"Does Steve have children?"

"No he doesn't."

"Well, since he's not in an abusive relationship, it's not really relevant anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Danny is getting kind of frustrated.

"Very often in cases of domestic abuse the cycle of violence continues. Victims of domestic abuse are often not just victims but also offenders. It's often an endless cycle, a child gets abused and ends up in an abusive relationship and abuses his or her own offspring. Or a niece or nephew."

Danny looks at Dr. Heller open mouthed, did he just say what Danny thinks he did? Did he just say that Steve was abused as a child? That they found evidence for that in some x-rays and that's what led them to the conclusion of spousal abuse? Did he just suggest that Steve might abuse children?

He has no idea what Steve's childhood was like, but he knows without a doubt that Steve would never ever hurt a child. Not his own or anyone else's.

He is the one person Danny would give Grace to without any hesitation. He knows with certainty that his partner would do anything to keep his daughter safe. Never would he hurt his Monkey.

But Dr. Heller put a seed in Danny's brain, and he's going to make sure to talk to Steve about his childhood. To find out about old injuries. To find out if Steve was a victim at such a young age. He desperately hopes that is not the case.

H50 – H50 - H50

Thank you all so much for reading. Let me know what you think. It makes my day.

Next chapter will be up on Friday. If FFN is not offline again.